David Wojnarowicz 1954-1992
Fear of Disclosure: Psycho-Social Implications of HIV Revelation (1989) with Phil Zwickler
Duration: 4'46" minutes
I first saw Fear of Disclosure in September 1989 when Phil showed up at opening night of what was then called the New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival (now MIX NYC) with a copy. He and David Wojnarowicz had just finished it and he excitedly thrust it into my hands. We added it to one of the shows that year and officially showed it the next year after it had made the festival circuit. When I curated Fever in the Archive, a series of AIDS videos for the Guggenheim Museum in New York in December 2000, I felt it was absolutely crucial to include Fear of Disclosure.
People had been talking about the problems of maintaining a strong and vibrant sexuality during the AIDS crisis and the difficulties of relations between HIV-negative and HIV-positive men, but Fear of Disclosure was the first film to deal with those issues. And Phil did it in his typical fashion—confronting it head on and resolutely exposing his own vulnerabilities.
The image may be more David Wojnarowicz, but the spirit of the piece is pure Phil.
—Jim Hubbard
RESOURCES:
David Wojnarowicz in UbuWeb Sound
I first saw Fear of Disclosure in September 1989 when Phil showed up at opening night of what was then called the New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival (now MIX NYC) with a copy. He and David Wojnarowicz had just finished it and he excitedly thrust it into my hands. We added it to one of the shows that year and officially showed it the next year after it had made the festival circuit. When I curated Fever in the Archive, a series of AIDS videos for the Guggenheim Museum in New York in December 2000, I felt it was absolutely crucial to include Fear of Disclosure.
People had been talking about the problems of maintaining a strong and vibrant sexuality during the AIDS crisis and the difficulties of relations between HIV-negative and HIV-positive men, but Fear of Disclosure was the first film to deal with those issues. And Phil did it in his typical fashion—confronting it head on and resolutely exposing his own vulnerabilities.
The image may be more David Wojnarowicz, but the spirit of the piece is pure Phil.
—Jim Hubbard
RESOURCES:
David Wojnarowicz in UbuWeb Sound